Report: Trump Administration Working To Remove Enslaved History From National Parks

President Donald Trump, who has stated his desire to remove from national parks and other federal institutions materials that "disparage" Americans, has had materials that interpret enslaved history removed from some national park sites, according to a media report.

The president's directive, issued in March, was followed up in May by an order from Interior Secretary Doug Burgum asking the public to identify interpretive materials in the National Park System that disparage Americans past or living or which contain content that detracts from viewpoints of scenic grandeur.

The goal, Burgum said, was "to restore Federal sites dedicated to history, including parks and museums, to solemn and uplifting public monuments that remind Americans of our extraordinary heritage, consistent progress toward becoming a more perfect Union, and unmatched record of advancing liberty, prosperity, and human flourishing."

Signs asking visitors to report questionable signage were placed throughout the park system after that order.

In a story Monday evening the Washington Post reported that Interior staff have removed unspecified materials from Harpers Ferry National Historical Park in West Virginia, the site of the late 19th-century revolt by abolitionist John Brown. More than two dozen items reportedly were tagged as being "out of compliance" with the president's directive, the newspaper reported.

The National Parks Traveler has been able to confirm that some unspecified materials were being removed from the park. The National Parks Conservation Association has not been able to confirm the Post's account.

According to the Post's article, the National Park Service also has ordered the removal of a 19th century photograph of the scarred back of an enslaved man from one another park.

The Park Service has received pushback from some park visitors to Burgum's order.

“What upset me the most about the [Independence National Historical Park] museum—more than anything in the actual exhibits—were the signs telling people to report anything they thought was negative about Americans,” read one visitor's comment viewed earlier this year by a writer at Government Executive. “That isn't just frustrating, it's outrageous. It felt like an open invitation to police and attack historians for simply doing their jobs: telling the truth.” 

"One interesting thing about the [Executive Order] is that it calls for a review of things done or changed in the years 2020 to 2025," said another visitor. "Essentially they are looking for any changes made in the park during the prior administration. Will the next administration come in and issue the same order but change the years from 2020 through 2025 to 2025 to 2030? They are igniting an endless round of historical revision to make the stories told in our National Parks align with the views of the party of the President. Changing the signage and displays and content of the ranger talks in the parks every 4 years is a tremendous financial burden. 

The campaign by the administration seemingly has created two pathways: one where visitors to the parks have demanded the administration be true to history and climate change, and another where Park Service personnel are being more circumspect in asking the administration to review interpretive materials in the parks.

"Book in the Washington Monument bookstore — discusses him as an enslaver," reads one of the notes Park Service personnel forwarded to the Interior Department for a decision on whether it disparages George Washington.

At Cane River Creole National Historical Park in Louisiana, a park system site that preserves and interprets "two of the most intact Creole cotton plantations in the United States," park staff sought guidance on language in an exhibit that included the names of enslavers and stated that those who escaped the plantation, when captured, "were interrogated, publicly whipped, and returned to their owners."

Former Park Service Director Jon Jarvis earlier this year told the Traveler, in response to the directives from the president and the Interior secretary, that the agency shouldn't be in the business of sanitizing history.

"NPS is not here to entertain the public but rather to engage the visitor in thinking and learning about our country’s history and its natural resources. The arbiter in these questions should be scholarly research, not political ideology," Jarvis said. "While our nation has lofty ideals, we have not always achieved them and our ability to talk about these failures and learn from them is one of the greatest values of our nation."